Package-clasp.



Patented Mar. 9, 1909.

witnesses Mud Attorneys TIMOTHY SMITH, OF HOWELL, MICHIGAN.

PACKAGE-CLASP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 9, 1909.

Application filed April 10, 1908. Serial No. $26,363.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, TIMOTHY SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Howell, county of Livingston, State of Michigan, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Package-Clasps, anddeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of thesame, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertainsto make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to package clasps.

it has for its object a clasp or buckle adapted to be used for the quickand secure binding together of bundles, and in the form shown in thedrawings is especially adapted for the purpose of securing togetherbundles of letters, and may be used to advantage for the purpose ofsecurely holding letters during the distribution by local postmen.

in the drawings :F igure 1, is a perspective view of the buckle andstrap. Fig. 2, shows the clasp in connection with a bundle of papers.

The main or body part of the buckle consists of a member 1 provided witha cross bar 2, to which a strap may be secured, and with ears 3 and atto which the ends of a forked tongue 5 are pivotally engaged. The forksof the tongue 5 join and terminate in a tongue point 6 adapted to takethrough a hole 7 in the strap. The fork spreads immediately adjacent tothe tongue point to a width sufficient to allow the thread of the strapto pass easily through between the fork members and 5 and when the strapis drawn through the opening between the forked members, a hole 7 isengaged over the tongue point. The tongue and the strap are then turnedin to bring the tongue slightly beyond a parallel relation with the body8 of the buckle, with the ears 3 and at and the pivotal points of thetongue somewhat farther removed from the body member than the extremetongue point is distant therefrom, so that when the buckle tongue isturned down in the position shown in Fig. 2, the strain of the straptends to draw the tongue point down against the body 8 of the buckle,and tends to hold the buckle in its closed relation, and holds thebuckle tongue securely in its engaging connection with the strap. Theend of the strap is passed through the loop or billet 9, and the bucklecannot now be accidentally disengaged. Preferably the body 8 of thebuckle is of a length to reach across the bundle to be secured. This isnot, however, absolutely essential, as the buckle and strap will securewith reasonable safety packages that are considerably wider than thelength of the buckle body.

What I claim is .1. Jr buckle for securing packages, having incombination a body part, a strap secured to one end thereof, and aterminally pointed forked tongue between whose sides the strap isadapted to pass pivotally connected to the otner end of the body part,adapted, when swung to a position of approximate parallelism with saidbody part, to engage through perforated portions of the strap with itspointed end, and to be swung by the pull of the strap more closelyagainst said body part, substantially as described.

2. A package clasp, comprising a relatively flat body portion havingupwardly projecting shoulders at one end thereof, a strap s cured at oneend to the opposite end of said body poition, and a forked tongue havinga pointed end pivotally connected with said shoulders, between whoseside members the strap is adapted to pass and to be engaged by thepointed end thereof when the free end of the same is swung to a positionof substantial parallelism with re spect to the body portion,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

TIMOTHY SMITH.

Witnesses:

V. J. LARKIN, lViLLIS L. Lyons.

